Kazakhstan’s gymnastics elite shine bright in Doha

Kazakhstan’s top gymnasts delivered a strong performance on the opening day of the 17th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup stage on individual apparatus, held in Doha, Qatar. The men’s team secured two second-place and two fourth-place finishes in qualifications, with all four athletes advancing to the finals as serious contenders.

In the floor exercise, Milad Karimi earned the second-highest score among 16 participants in the preliminary round, receiving 13.800 points from the judges. Altynkhan Temirbek followed closely in fourth-place finish with a score of 13.466. Slovenian gymnast Anze Hribar led the field with a score of 14.000.

On the pommel horse, Olympic silver medalist Nariman Kurbanov placed second out of 21 athletes with a score of 14.566. Zeinolla Idrissov finished fourth with 14.466. Armenia’s Hamlet Manukyan took first with 14.666. Kazakh gymnasts did not compete in the rings event.

On the women’s side, Kazakhstan’s team is still working to establish itself on the international stage. Medina Kapbassova reached the final in the vault, placing eighth out of 12 with a score of 12.400. The top scorer was the legendary Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan, who earned 13.316. Chusovitina, still a dominant force in the sport, will turn 50 in June.

Ayazhan Shamshitdinova narrowly missed the uneven bars final, finishing ninth with a score of 9.766, just one spot short of qualifying. Australia’s Kate McDonald won the event with a 13.066.

Qualifications in the remaining men’s (three events) and women’s (two events) disciplines will take place today. The finals are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

At the previous World Cup stage in Croatia, Karimi won gold on the horizontal bar and bronze in the floor exercise. Kurbanov took bronze in the pommel horse. Kazakhstan’s women did not compete in that event.

The fifth stage of the 2025 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series is being held in Doha from April 16 to 19.